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Introducing Halo Recruit

I'll admit it, when VR first became a "thing," I was skeptical. The idea of putting on a headset seemed claustrophobic and the promise of truly inhabiting a virtual space felt far away... boy was I wrong. There are precious few opportunities as a creative team to get to explore a truly brand new medium - the mixed reality space is exactly that, and it's magical. Here at 343 Industries, we are just starting to dip our toes into the mixed reality space but we are hugely passionate about the potential to truly explore and play in our universe with this technology.

Recently, Alex Kipman announced in the Windows Mixed Reality blog a fun little arcade experience that we call "Halo Recruit." Let's be clear, this isn't a game or even a part of a game - it is a light introduction to the world of Halo and some of its most iconic characters... oh, and its weapons and maybe a Warthog. The point is, it was a chance for us to start to play with Microsoft's amazing new technology and for you to get to stand toe-to-toe with an Elite (yes, I may have whimpered a little my first time in).

Our 5-minute Halo experience is available for fans to try in Microsoft Stores, and as a free download from the Windows Store, on Oct. 17 (you will of course, need to have a Windows MR headset to play). "Halo Recruit" was developed in partnership with our good friends, Endeavor One. Endeavor One is a small powerhouse studio with deep ties to Halo; I'll let you look them up, but it was fantastic to get to experiment in this space with them.

What's next? This was a great opportunity for us to work with Alex and his Windows Mixed Reality team; we're inspired and excited to do more which Alex and Bonnie may have hinted at already ;-). Until then, we invite you to genuinely step into the world of Halo with us with "Halo Recruit."

*NOTE: This article was updated on October 17 to reflect new availability details.